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BTS' 'Arirang' Claims Seventh No. 1 on Billboard 200, Makes History
BTS' fifth studio album 'Arirang' debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and held the top spot for a second week, marking the group's seventh No. 1 album and making them the first K-pop act to top the chart for two consecutive weeks. The album earned 641,000 equivalent units in its opening week, the biggest week for a group since 2014, and the lead single 'Swim' is poised to debut atop the Hot 100.
Two reports from Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's leading wire service, provide the most detailed coverage of BTS' recent chart performance. The first, published March 30, focuses on the album's debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The second, dated April 6, updates the story to confirm the album remained at the top for a second consecutive week. Both reports are attributed to Billboard's chart data and are written in an informative tone without loaded language.
Key Claims
Seventh No. 1 Album: According to Yonhap, "Arirang" is BTS' seventh album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, following "Love Yourself: Tear," "Love Yourself: Answer," "Map of the Soul: Persona," "Map of the Soul: 7," "Be," and "Proof." The debut week chart was dated April 4.
Consecutive Weeks at No. 1: The April 6 report states that BTS became the first K-pop act to top the Billboard 200 for two consecutive weeks. The album stayed at No. 1 in its second week, ahead of "Bully" from Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Melanie Martinez's "Hades."
Sales Figures: In its opening week, "Arirang" earned 641,000 equivalent album units (532,000 from physical/digital sales, 95,000 from streaming). This was described as the largest week for an album by a group since the chart began measuring by units in December 2014. In the second week, the album earned 187,000 units (114,000 from sales, 65,000 from streaming), a 71% decrease.
Lead Single 'Swim': The March 30 report notes that "Swim" has a strong chance of debuting at No. 1 on the Hot 100, while the April 6 report states it "debuted atop" the chart. This discrepancy suggests the single's chart position was confirmed between the two reports. If it reached No. 1, it would be the group's seventh song to top that chart.
Album Theme: Both reports describe "Arirang" as exploring BTS' identity as a group that began in Korea and the universal emotions its members have encountered throughout their lives. The album was produced under the direction of Hybe Chairman Bang Si-hyuk.
Perspectives
BTS' achievement is portrayed as a milestone for K-pop globally. The Yonhap reports emphasize the historic nature of the consecutive weeks at No. 1, which no other K-pop act has achieved. The album's commercial success, particularly its strong physical sales and streaming numbers, is presented as evidence of the group's enduring popularity. The reports also position BTS within the broader context of U.S. chart history, comparing their unit totals to Taylor Swift's recent record-breaking debut.
Timeline and Corrections
The March 30 report was published before the Hot 100 chart was fully confirmed, hence the cautious language about "Swim" having a "strong chance." The April 6 update confirms the song debuted at No. 1, aligning with the earlier prediction. No other corrections have been noted between the two reports.
As with any chart news, these figures come from Billboard, which compiles data from sales and streaming services. Yonhap's reporting is consistent with Billboard's own announcements.
This article was compiled from Yonhap News Agency reports dated March 30 and April 6, 2026, which cited Billboard chart data.
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Yonhap News — English
Framing:Our reading BTS' achievement in the U.S. music scene — informative
Facts Included:
BTS topped the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart for two consecutive weeks
Their fifth studio album 'Arirang' stayed at No. 1 for a second week
The album earned 187,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 2
BTS is the first K-pop act to top the chart for two consecutive weeks
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimBTS became the first K-pop act to top the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart for two consecutive weeks.